Will rally mark Red revival?

If we're too anxious about Saturday's planned gathering of the red shirts, their first since the Songkran infamy, nothing will happen.

But if we lower our guard and think, "Nah, they don't have anything new to show", something will surely run amok.

However, the general assumption is that, after Songkran's bloody madness, the red movement must now be smart enough to "lie low" in order to keep the spotlight on the shortcomings of the Abhisit government, which critics say are piling up.

By lying low I mean a peaceful, albeit massive, protest that ends in a day or two, which should suffice.

Why spark a confrontation or a riot and take the NGV buses, the government's empty pockets, renewed southern violence, illegal shareholdings of government MPs, among other issues, away from the front pages?

We have heard about a "Taksin 2" plot, an alleged scheme to wreak more havoc and incite new street violence. This apparently has put the government on high alert and set off a bit of a panic among those who read the terrifying details.

The conspiracy, reportedly unearthed by Thai intelligence, featured on the Manager website on Wednesday.

To me, the plot is simply too scary, and the way it was written was too blatant, to be true. Most papers have also played it down, at least for now. It could be a plan to discredit the red shirts, or justify some tough security manoeuvrings over the next few days.

Or even if Taksin 2 is real, we may not have to be overly concerned. If a radical political movement is dumb enough to virtually broadcast its plan to bring down a nation's political order like that, we shouldn't be too worried about it.

It's best for the red shirts, and for Thailand, to keep it cool. Saturday's rally should serve as a warning to the powers-that-be that the movement remains a force to be reckoned with, and as a message to the Thai public regarding its behaviour during Songkran.

If the movement wants to restore its bruised reputation, this is the time to start. If it, again, wants to go for broke, this one can really be its swan song.

The problem here in Thailand, however, is always that they often begin as something aimed at "restoring" a reputation, only to end up in accelerating the disrepute.